Department of the Interior March 3, 1848U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
DOI and USFWS logos
-
Home page
- -
 
Fire Management (page title)
LOOKING AT FIRE IN THE ECOSYSTEM
Squirrel, moose and wolf all think of different things when a forest burns

Grade Level: 2-8
Alaska State Content Standards: SA15, LA4
Subject: Science, Language Arts
Skills: Description, Generalization
Duration: 1 class period
Group Size: Individual
Setting: indoors
Vocabulary: fire impact, heavily burned, moderately burned, lightly burned, fuel, vegetation mosaics, permafrost, active layer, surface fire, canopy fire, crown fire, ground fire, rhizomes, semi-serotinous cones

OBJECTIVE
Students will describe some of the effects of boreal forest or tundra fires on people and wildlife.

TEACHING STRATEGY
In this writing activity students consider the effects of fire through the eyes of people, wildlife and plants.

MATERIALS
Paper and pencil
PDF icon Alaska Ecology Cards
PDF icon The Effects of Fire on Wildlife Populations

TEACHER BACKGROUND
Refer to the background information section of Unit II.

PROCEDURE
1. Discuss the positive and negative effects of fire and how they relate to wildlife and people.

2. Tell students they will be looking at a fire form a viewpoint different than their own. Read the list of roles below and ask students to brainstorm any others they would like to add.

Tundra List
Look at the effects of fire through the eyes of a

  • insect
  • fox
  • ptarmigan
  • nesting bird
  • caribou
  • wolf
  • lichen
  • blueberry
  • mineral
  • pilot
  • firefighter
  • home owner
  • trapper

(for more ideas go to the Tundra Alaska Ecology Cards)

Forest List
Look at the effects of fire through the eyes of an insect

  • fox
  • spruce hen
  • nesting bird
  • moose
  • beaver
  • tree
  • blueberry
  • mineral
  • pilot
  • firefighter
  • trapper
  • home owner

(For more ideas go to the Boreal Forest Alaska Ecology Cards)

3. Assign a role on the list to each student (repeat the roles, if necessary). Place students in groups of 3.

4. Show and discuss pictures of burned sites to the class to help them visualize a burn scene. As a class have students close their eyes for 2-3 minutes imagining a burn site and looking at the effects of the fire with their assigned role in mind.

5. Encourage students to discuss, within their groups, how they would view the effects of fire from the perspective of their assigned role. Have students write a short essay describing the viewpoint.

6. Have the group share their viewpoints with the class. The essays can be read aloud or displayed on the wall.

EVALUATION
Students draw pictures of a burn site through the eyes of their assigned role and share with the class.

EXTENSION
Ask a firefighter to visit the class and describe his or her experience with fire.

 Printable version |  Add to favorites |  Make Alaska FWS my homepage
Site designed and maintained jointly by the USFWS Alaska Region Division of Information Resource Management (IRM) and External Affairs (EA).